by Jeff Duncan
Payton made an early impression on Bishop, as well, immediately identifying himself as someone with a future.
“You know, some of them just stand out,” Bishop said. “They hit you right away. Here’s someone who’s just different than everyone else because of his interest, his eagerness, his depth of the game at such a young age. He wanted to learn more. He was in my hip pocket all the time just wanting to know more. You just knew through his own work ethic he was destined to be somebody good in some area. You didn’t know at the time he was going to be a football coach, to come to the place he is right now. He had such a positive attitude. You couldn’t get him down. You could hit him over the head and he’d come back for more. I always respected him for that.”
Bishop was ahead of his time as an offensive coordinator. He ran a wide-open aerial attack on offense, built around the quarterback. And in the offseason, he conducted a popular passing camp in Franklin, Indiana, which was an early forerunner to today’s 7-on-7 competitions.
Repeatedly, Bishop said, Payton would surprise him with his grasp of the intricacies of the game. He quickly became Bishop’s eager pupil and spent hours watching game film and studying the playbook. By the time Payton was a senior, the All-DuPage Valley Conference quarterback was helping finalize game plans and calling his own plays.
“He was one of those young men you could tell was something good,” Bishop said. “He was always willing to try things and was one of the few players I’ve coached through the years that when he talked to me, I listened.… As a coach, I didn’t always do what he said. But when he said something, I knew he thought it out, and he knew what he was talking about.”
Payton’s dream school was Purdue, which had a storied legacy as a producer of elite quarterbacks, among them Bob Griese, Len Dawson, Gary Danielson, and Mike Phipps. But the Boilermakers showed no interest, and Payton picked Eastern Illinois over offers from Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Southwest Missouri State. At EIU, Payton set several passing records for Coach Al Molde’s high-powered passing attack, which was nicknamed Eastern Airlines. Payton had passing games of 461 and 509 yards, the latter a school record, and eventually topped the 10,000-yard passing mark in his career. He recorded 20 300-yard passing games and set 11 school records, before they were eventually broken by Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo.
“Sean was an intense competitor, an infectious leader, and one of the most confident players I had the pleasure of working with in my career,” Molde later told the Chicago Tribune. “He was a player who loved watching film and preparing for the next game.… So many times he would check into a play at the line [of scrimmage], drop back, and throw a strike to one of our receivers for big gains and touchdowns.”
Despite his impressive résumé, Payton wasn’t selected in the 1987 NFL Draft. He tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs that spring but wasn’t offered a contract. There wasn’t much demand for a 5’11”, 180-pound quarterback from a Division I-AA program.
Over the next 18 months, his professional playing career took him to three different leagues in three different countries. He started in the Arena Football League for the Chicago Bruisers and Pittsburgh Gladiators and then went to the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. After being cut by Ottawa, he played briefly as a replacement player for the Chicago Bears during the 1987 player strike. Payton started three games for the Bears, who were coached by Mike Ditka. He won the first two before losing his finale to none other than the New Orleans Saints.
“It was my first year out of college and I had just been cut from the CFL. It was an easy decision,” Payton said. “It was an opportunity. I wanted to play and possibly get evaluated. I’ve always thanked Coach Ditka for getting me on with my life’s work [coaching], because I wasn’t good at [playing].”
Before hanging up his playing career, Payton made one last stop. He played for the Leicester Panthers of the Budweiser National League in England. It was during his time in rural England that Payton began to consider a career change. He began to pursue leads for a graduate assistant position in the college ranks.
“My mom would give me a hard time because I didn’t have health insurance at the time,” Payton said. “You’re at that stage where some of your friends are getting married, some already have, and they’re all kind of established in their early parts of their careers. I’m like, ‘God, I’m living over in England, and I don’t have a savings account.’”
One of Payton’s many calls went to Steve Devine, then the offensive line coach at San Diego State, who also was in charge of hiring and overseeing graduate assistants. Devine was skeptical at first, but after checking Payton’s references, he offered him the job with one caveat: he needed to be there in three days.
“I’ll get there,” Payton said.
Payton flew to Chicago, loaded up his Chevy Cavalier, and made the cross-country drive west. His car broke down outside Denver and the mechanic jury-rigged the broken fan belt because Payton lacked the funds to pay for the full repair. Payton eventually made it to San Diego and lived with Devine for a couple weeks before finding an apartment of his own.
“Steve is the one who stuck me in a coaching shirt with armpit stains, put a hat on me, and said, ‘This is what you’ve got to do to be a coach,’” Payton said. “He was real instrumental in the process.”
Devine later became a scout for the New York Giants thanks, in part, to a recommendation from Payton. He retired in May 2019.
“Obviously, he had some talent,” Devine said of Payton, “but he was a bright-eyed guy who was always looking for a way to win and get it done. He kept at it until people gave him a chance. He came to San Diego State full of ideas and ready to do anything you’d ask, from making coffee to running an errand. Good things always seem to happen to him. He’s a guy I really admire.”
Payton spent two years at San Diego State, then landed his first full-time job as the running backs and wide receivers coach at Indiana State. He returned to San Diego State as running backs coach in 1992 and 1993, where he coached All-American Marshall Faulk. He served as the offensive coordinator at Miami (Ohio) for two seasons, then was the quarterbacks coach at Illinois in 1996 before he finally got his break in the NFL.
Jon Gruden hired him to coach the quarterbacks on Ray Rhodes’ Philadelphia Eagles staff in 1997–98, and it was there, under the direction of Gruden and offensive line coach Bill Callahan, that Payton laid the foundation for his knowledge of NFL offenses.
“It was my first opportunity in the NFL and it gave me a chance really to learn,” Payton said. “I learned a lot in a short period of time working with Jon and that offense. It was a foundation for me that I still hold on to.
“It was a little bit like law school. There were a lot of late nights and a lot of early mornings. I learned about preparation. You come out of college and you get into this league, and you realize that there’s a lot of football that you don’t know. It can be humbling, but yet it was important.”
Working as closely as they did together, Payton and Gruden developed a strong relationship. Payton would often sleep on the couch in Gruden’s office. The two remain close to this day.
“He’s been a big part of my development,” Payton said of Gruden. “When I got hired [in Philadelphia] in ’97, just for me to really be a blank tape is what they were looking for, for me to study and learn. It afforded me a great opportunity.… He’s got a great mind. He’s a unique guy, and he’s very talented.”
In 1999, Payton moved to the New York Giants staff as quarterbacks coach and was promoted to offensive coordinator a year later. He was dubbed the “Boy Wonder” of the Giants offense in 1999 and 2000, but two years later he was reeling after having the play sheet ripped from his hands. After several subpar offensive performances during the 2002 season, head coach Jim Fassel took away Payton’s play-calling duties. The Giants scored just seven touchdowns in seven games with Payton calling the
shots, and three of those scores came in one game. The move appeared to work. The Giants made a run to the playoffs, and Payton, his role diminished and reputation tarnished, started to look for work elsewhere.
“I told Sean when this happened, this isn’t going to affect your career,” former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi said in 2002. “How you react and handle this, that will be your legacy.”
Accorsi was right. What happened next for Payton defined his career.
4. The Parcells Effect
Bill Parcells had never met Sean Payton when he hired him in 2003. He just knew Payton was considered a rising star in the coaching ranks and had a strong reputation as a quarterbacks guru. Despite the shaky finish to Payton’s tenure in New York, Giants personnel director Chris Mara, whom Parcells knew from his days in New York, had given Payton a glowing recommendation. Parcells wanted to add him to his new coaching staff in Dallas and hired Payton over the phone.
Payton didn’t know Parcells, either, but he certainly knew of him. He had led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories and took New England to the championship game. Parcells was football royalty, and Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi told Payton that working for Parcells would be like earning a graduate degree in coaching.
Payton jumped at the chance to work for Parcells, turning down the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator job for a position as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach in Dallas.
“When you think about that opportunity for a young guy to work for a Hall of Fame coach, it’s invaluable,” Payton said. “The very last thing we discussed [over the phone] was salary and benefits and any of that stuff. I hadn’t even met him. All of the other things were more important to him. The football and the passion. Those were the things that he got excited about.”
Parcells wasn’t initially sure that Payton had what it took to become an NFL head coach, but he quickly discovered Payton’s passion for the sport and thirst for knowledge were traits that might ultimately make him successful.
Parcells quickly became a mentor and, eventually, a trusted adviser. When the Raiders tried to hire Payton for his first head coaching job in 2004, Parcells privately advised Payton to turn it down and wait for a better gig in the future. And when the Saints called two years later, Parcells gave Payton his blessing.
“He was very, very energetic, bright, with high energy,” said Parcells, who referred to Payton as Dennis after the cartoon character Dennis the Menace. “He was intelligent and was a good listener. That’s the best way to describe him. I enjoyed my time with him.”
Payton compared his three seasons working under Parcells to graduate school. His influence on Payton went beyond Xs and Os. Parcells taught Payton how to manage a game, run a team, and lead an organization. He taught him the value of attention to even the smallest detail, a trait Payton has maintained throughout his coaching tenure.
“What I remember from Bill was that he never stopped thinking how to win,” Payton said. “For Bill, fresh analysis beat conventional thinking every time. He was brilliant at analyzing every opponent individually and then figuring out what it would take to win the game.” When Payton took the Saints job, he brought the Parcells Way to New Orleans. While he adopted Fassel’s practice schedule from the New York Giants, he borrowed almost everything else from Parcells. He used Parcells’ conditioning test, weightlifting regimen, disciplinary system—almost everything had Parcells’ fingerprints on it. Payton took Parcells’ approach to training camp, moving it from the team’s home facility in suburban Metairie to Millsaps College, 180 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi. He also removed the Saints’ fleur-de-lis logo from rookies’ helmets. He hung signs at the facility with another Parcells mantra: Saints players will be Smart, Tough, Disciplined, and Well Conditioned.
During the early years, members of the Saints football operations staff would joke that they needed to buy “What Would Bill Do?” bracelets because of Payton’s constant references to Parcells and his method of operation. But there was a method to Payton’s strategy. By continuously referring to Parcells, Payton was surreptitiously establishing his philosophy, using the future Hall of Famer as a way to validate his approach in New Orleans.
“Having the chance to work for Bill Parcells for three years, you learn a lot more about all the things that are necessary to be the leader of a team,” Payton said. “When you’re around someone like that for three years, it’s an on-the-job, day-to-day learning experience. There are things that come up daily that you can’t help but take notice of. Those are the benefits of working under someone like that rather than just go hear him speak at a clinic.”
One of the many Parcells coaching methods Payton continues to employ in New Orleans was to introduce three to five keys to victory to his players at the initial team meeting on Wednesdays of game week. He also adopted many of Parcells’ legendary motivational tactics. After a big win or a long winning streak, he would plant mouse traps around the football facility to remind his players, “don’t eat the cheese” from friends, family, and the media. Another time, he had staffers paint several life-size fake exit doors on the walls of the facility to deliver the message to his players and coaches: there are many ways out of the NFL—don’t make excuses.
“Sean was a no-nonsense, hard-nosed coach, and I think he definitely took that from Parcells,” said former Saints linebacker Scott Fujita, who played for Parcells’ Cowboys in 2005 during Payton’s third and final season as Parcells’ primary offensive assistant. “Sean would come around and take time out to B.S. with guys here and there. And Parcells did that same thing. But Sean also wasn’t afraid to put a lot of pressure on guys. Certain people need that to bring out the best in them. Bill did that, too.”
Parcells taught Payton that change and confrontation are healthy.
“I had an Italian mother,” Parcells said. “My mother was a very loving person, but she was highly confrontational. She and my father believed in doing things the right way. My experience growing up was that confrontation could be healthy. It gets things out in the open. Hopefully when you get them out there you can solve them. I believe that strongly.”
Payton learned from Parcells to challenge people, even his coaches and superiors. If a player or coach is not pulling his weight, Payton won’t hesitate to address it.
“Sean is always honest with you,” Brees said. “He doesn’t sugarcoat it. If you want to know the truth, he has an open-door policy where he says, for example, to end the season at every exit meeting, I’ve heard him say the same thing. ‘You’re going to hear a lot of stuff in the media about who we should keep and who we should, who we should get rid of, and for what reason. Don’t allow that to get you upset or even give you false hope about certain things. If you want to know the truth, you can come into my office right now, and I’ll tell you the truth.’”
If Payton feels like a player is not giving full effort during practice or is going through the motions during his week of preparation, the coach will let him know. He’s also a stickler for body language and energy level. Just as Parcells did, he demands that his coaches and players carry themselves with positive energy and be enthusiastic at work. Everyone—coaches, players, staff—needs to be passionate about work and winning.
“Bill valued confrontation,” Payton said. “It was eye-opening at first, but nothing was ever tabled. And the older and wiser that I got the more I appreciated why he was like that. You want to be true to who you are, but it is important to address things and not table them, especially in a team environment. I think that once that’s done, I think the players, coaches, and everyone involved understand that that’s just how it is. That can be healthy, rather than letting things fester or not addressing certain things at all. That’s something that I think he was very good at.”
One of Payton’s favorite Parcells lines is, “Some of these coaches and players have retired on the job.” It’s his not-so-subtle way of
keeping everyone motivated and maintaining an edge.
“Sean is a great communicator, but at the same time, he believes in controversy,” said Dan Campbell, the Saints tight ends coach who played three seasons for Parcells in Dallas from 2003 to ’05 and began his coaching career in Miami in 2010, when Parcells was still in the Dolphins’ front office. “He believes in airing things out. Let’s get this out on the table. If something bothers him, he’s not going to keep it to himself or say, ‘I don’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings.’ He’s going to get it out in the open, and we’re going to clear the air.
“And believe it or not, that in itself is a huge deal, because there’s a lot of coaches in this league that won’t do that. They’re just afraid to do that. It takes freakin’ guts, man. They’re afraid to go talk to that defensive tackle that was just a little late to a meeting or a guy who is just not giving the effort in practice. Sean’s not going to let that stuff slide. And that’s another reason why we’ve won around here.”
“Some coaches are afraid to address certain things, like maybe afraid to address the elephant in the room or afraid to tell you the truth because they’re afraid it’s going to hurt your feelings,” Brees said. “Sean’s not that way. What I find though is that the way that he presents it to you is not something that’s going to make you feel bad. It’s going to challenge you.”
